Connecting incredible vehicles with boldface names is one of the raisons d’être—and pleasures—of this column. Apparently, this desire is shared by our friend Ken Gross, a famed automotive journalist and museum curator, who has assembled a breathtaking array of prominently owned Stuttgartian metal in the new exhibit he created for the North Carolina Museum of Art: “Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed.”

While it is the first design show the Raleigh-based fine-art museum has ever mounted, it is one of many automotive-themed blockbusters Ken has helped put together for museums around the country, the most recent of which just closed at Nashville’s Frist Center after hosting record-setting crowds.

This new exhibit features nearly two dozen exquisite Porsches from the brand’s extensive history, including consumer, customized, concept, and competition models. “I think visitors will be gobsmacked,” Ken told us, in predicting the response of attendees to the gathered hoard.

We agree. But because we like to play favorites, we selected our five top showstopping standouts—including the headline-referenced, notable vehicles—and put them together into the slide show below. Of course, you’re free to make up your own mind. Just head down to Raleigh between now and January 20, and check out the seductively speedy selection for yourself.

1965 Type 356 C

The 356 was Porsche’s first production model and had a nearly two-decade run as both a closed coupe and a convertible. This particular car is from the model’s last year of production and features a decidedly non-factory paint scheme, created at the request of famed singer Janis Joplin, who bought the car used and had it customized by a roadie for her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Apparently her friends were not the only ones who all drove Porsches.